


Yuletide Kisses

by BebbanburgBeats



Category: The Last Kingdom (TV), The Warrior Chronicles | The Saxon Stories - Bernard Cornwell
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:21:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26699731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BebbanburgBeats/pseuds/BebbanburgBeats
Summary: A little Finan/Eadith imagine I wrote a while ago.
Relationships: Eadith & Finan (The Last Kingdom), Eadith/Finan (The Last Kingdom)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Yuletide Kisses

**Author's Note:**

> Finally getting around to posting this on AO3, having been on my tumblr blog for a while!

Eadith had come to call Coccham her home, after she was not allowed to stay with Aelfwynn. She didn’t blame Aethelflaed’s decision to send her away. In truth, Eadith had known it must happen, but it had caused her to make some decisions of her own. One such was to join Uhtred and his men and make Coccham her new home. Although, her decision to go to Coccham was also influenced by a certain Irishman, after all she found conversations with him stimulating. Yes, she only found him interesting company, nothing more, she told herself.

As the months went by, and Eadith found herself enjoying Finan’s company more and more. She knew she was starting to fall in love with him, but knew nothing could come of it. Or so she thought.

Little did Eadith know that Finan was already in love with her. Everyone on the outside could see it. If only Finan and Eadith could realise their love for each other as well.

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The day had started as usual, everyone going about their daily chores, tending the horses, gathering wood for the fire, sharpening weapons. Except it was not a normal day. It was a day of festivities, for it was Yule and a big feast had been planned in Coccham.

With the sun setting, the residents of Coccham made their way to Uhtred’s hall for the start of the feast. Everybody was bringing food to add to the feasting and logs for the fire. After all, nobody wanted the fire to die before the night was done.

As the night turned in to the early hours of the next day, enough ale had been drunk for people to start losing their inhibitions. Time for Uhtred’s plan to be put in to motion.

Beckoning Osferth and Sihtric over, Uhtred’s smile turned mischievous.

“Osferth, it is time” He grinned. Uhtred, Sihtric and Osferth had come up with the plan together weeks ago. They were all getting bored of watching Finan and Eadith circling around each other but not getting together. It was clear to the world that they would get together eventually, but since Uhtred believed that the three spinners of fate were taking a little too long to make Finan and Eadith a couple, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Destiny is all after all.

“Are you sure about this, Lord?” Osferth asked. “I don’t wish for Finan to get... hot-headed. He has had enough ale now to dampen his judgement in such matters”.

Sihtric snickered. “We won’t let him hurt you, baby monk. We wouldn’t let it get to that point. Now, go!”

“Here goes nothing” Osferth muttered while walking purposefully towards Eadith.

“Osferth! I didn’t expect you to still be here!” Eadith greeted him. “Christmas is still a few days away and Yule isn’t a very Christian celebration”

“Who am I to miss out on a celebration, Lady?” Osferth replied, adding with a charming smile “Especially when there is such beauty to be found here”. Eadith started blushing when Osferth started leaning in for what looked like a kiss. She knew who she would have preferred to kiss her, but Finan hadn’t shown any signs of anything more than platonic friendship between them, so she was debating letting Osferth kiss her and see what happened. _No this feels wrong!_ Eadith started to feel agitated. _I don’t want this, I want Finan! I need to stop this!_

It didn’t get to that point, as she heard the slamming of ale mugs down on the table and saw Finan forcibly pulling Osferth away, seething with barely restrained anger.

“I think you’ve had enough to drink, baby monk!” Finan spat. Uhtred and Sihtric were rushing through the gathered crowd to get to Finan before things got out of hand, but Eadith got there first.

“Finan” Eadith shook his arm but he didn’t take his hands off Osferth. “Finan!” she said again, louder, which seemed to clear some of the haze of anger away. He turned his head to look at her with shame and something else that looked a lot like heartbreak in his eyes as he let Osferth go.

“I’m sorry. It was not ma place ta interfere. I don’ know what came over me. Probably the ale. Yes, the ale. I have had enough for tonight I think. Osferth, Eadith, please forgive me” He spoke bashfully before he glanced at the gathered crowd and walked out of the hall.

Eadith looked crestfallen. _How could I have let this happen?_ She thought as she ran after Finan with thoughts of reconciliation on her mind.

Finan was not in sight when Eadith left the hall. She started to panic that he wouldn’t want to see her after what he had witnessed Osferth about to do. Finan could not have known that she didn’t want it either. She made up her mind to tell him of her feelings and throw caution to the wind. When all is said and done, she had also had enough ale to drink that she was feeling brave enough to admit her feelings. If only she could find Finan first.

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Eventually she found him leaning on the frame of a building, alternating between running his fingers through his hair in agitation and holding his head in his hands. Her heart broke at the sight of him looking like a broken man and all because of her.

She gently reached out a shaking hand and lightly touched his shoulder. He jumped, immediately on the defensive. 

“Jesus, Eadith! I didn’t hear you approach!” He exclaimed, but quickly recovered some of his usual bravado. “Osferth not great company, then?” he said with a small smirk, trying to cover up his feelings. She wasn’t fooled.

“Before you get the wrong idea, Irishman, Osferth and I will never be a couple. I was going to stop him before he kissed me! Before you dragged him off me! There was no need for that by the way, I can handle myself!”

“I never said-“ He tried to interrupt.

“I’m not finished, Finan! Please let me finish while I have the courage to do so!” Eadith tried to fight back the tears that were threatening to fall. Now or never she thought, steeling her resolve. “I didn’t want him kissing me because I wished for all the world that someone else would be the one to kiss me! But he doesn’t seem to notice me as more than a friend but it breaks my heart because I love him! I want to spend every day with him as more than friends. But he is stupid! Or so I thought. Now I am not so sure. He has given me hope that there is something more between us. But I don’t know what to do. He has never done anything like that for me before” Eadith exclaimed, before adding softly, “He had never tried to stop another man from kissing me before”. She couldn’t meet his eyes, she screwed her eyes shut as the reality of what she had confessed sank in.

_How could I have been so stupid?!_ She screamed in her mind. _I have ruined everything between us. He will never want to even be friends with me anymore. Breathe, blame it on the ale –_

All thoughts left her mind as Finan crashed his lips to hers in a hungry kiss. She was stunned for a moment but then she kissed him back with just as much fervour. Her arms came up to wrap around his neck as he pulled her as close to him as possible and the kiss grew more passionate. They only broke apart with the need for air. Both their breathing was ragged as they rested their foreheads together and she finally opened her eyes to stare into the depths of his.

“If only you knew how long I wanted ta do that, Eadith” He murmured. “I didn’t have the courage to say anything before. But I am so, so glad that Osferth tried ta kiss ya tonight. It made me realise my true feelings for ya. I saw red when he leaned in to kiss my woman. I had na thought of it before that point but I want ya to be my woman and my woman alone. I love ya too, Eadith, and I never want ta be parted from ya again” Happy tears were rolling down her cheeks at his admission, which he kissed away. “From now and forever, I am yours”. Eadith laughed happily and kissed him again, which he returned with just as much passion as before, full of the promise of a life together.

Uhtred, Sihtric and Osferth watched this happy exchange with big grins on their faces, just out of sight around a corner, until Finan pushed Eadith against the wall and deepened the kiss further.

“Time to go!” Sihtric said, deadpan, as he and Uhtred clapped Osferth around the shoulder and started to head back to the festivities in the hall, leaving Finan and Eadith to create their own festivities.

“Don’t freeze out here, you too!” Uhtred called over his shoulder, the reply to which was a curse from Finan and a giggle from Eadith.

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It had been a long time coming. Everyone on the outside could see that. Everyone except Finan and Eadith it seemed. But finally, they had realised they had feelings for each other and, thankfully for everyone else, had started to act on those feelings.

Beyond everything, destiny is all. And Finan and Eadith were destined to be together for eternity.


End file.
